Solved File Open / Save As dialog weirdness

I have recently switched from Windows 7 (don't judge me) to Windows 11 23H2 (a new install that came on a new device) and I noticed that in some applications the File Open / Save As dialogs show a whole bunch of folders in the Desktop folder that aren't actually there (see screenshot).

I understand that virtual folders and symlinks make it easy to access folders from various locations, but that's what namespace folders like 'This PC' are for. The Desktop folder is a real folder location, so displaying a bunch of non-existent folders inside it is not only illogical and confusing (e.g. I do not have a Desktop folder inside of my Desktop folder) it also makes me have to scroll to see the items that do actually exist in my Desktop folder.

Is there any way to remove / hide these fake desktop items? Obviously I don't want to hide them everywhere, only in the 'Desktop' space of those File Open / Save As dialogs (where they do not belong).

P.S. this does not happen in applications that use the newer style of dialog. In those dialogs the contents of the Desktop area exactly matches the contents of the actual Desktop folder, and does not include a bunch of non-existent items added to it.

The comdlg32, (older), dialogs will choose to save to the shell:desktop folder by default, choose the User Desktop and it should remember your choice for next time.

You can actually set the older, (Common Dialog), dialogs to destinations of your own choice, but you have to, I believe, create the comdlg32 and subsequent PlacesBar keys yourself...

Thank you so much, Edwin.

I just checked and you are correct that the last used folder is remembered. However, I regularly use the places buttons on the side of the dialog to jump between locations, so I would instinctively keep pressing that default Desktop places button and getting the same problem.

Your solution of setting my own places destinations (for comdlg32) not only fully solves this issue, but it also allows me to ensure that all of the preset places destinations are useful to me personally.

This is an even better outcome than I was hoping for! (and thankfully it didn't require the patching or replacing of files).

I've quickly created some test places and it's all working like a charm!

Thanks again.

Moutya said:

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

You're quite welcome!
And, welcome to the forums, enjoy your stay!

Here's a tutorial for changing the places bar items in legacy dialogs. Is on tenforums, but it works the same on Windows 11.

It's also a single checkbox item in WinSetView.

Here's the relevant section in the manual: